Nepal’s peace score takes historic hit after Gen Z unrest

Nepal has suffered the most dramatic deterioration in peacefulness globally over the last year, according to the 2026 Global Peace Index. The country fell 26 places to rank 111th out of 163 nations, marking its lowest position since 2008. Its overall peacefulness score plummeted by 9.1 percent, the largest decline recorded by any nation in the index, surpassing Oman and the Republic of the Congo.

The index, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, assesses peacefulness using 23 indicators across societal safety, ongoing conflict, and militarization. Nepal's sharp decline is largely linked to the Gen Z protests in September and the government's forceful response. These demonstrations erupted after a ban on 26 social media platforms, evolving into a nationwide movement against corruption, inequality, and misuse of public funds.

Security forces met the protests with live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons. By the end of September, at least 76 people, including police, were killed, and over 2,000 were injured. These events directly impacted the index's measures, with Nepal's score for ongoing conflict deteriorating by 23.4 percent, driven by a 100 percent worsening in the indicator for internal conflict intensity. Violent demonstrations increased by 45.5 percent, and political instability rose.

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A 9.1 percent deterioration in a single year is relatively uncommon.

While Nepal saw improvements in areas like terrorism impact and violent crime, these gains were overshadowed by the severe decline in conflict-related indicators. Mike Koslowski, a senior communications advisor at the Institute for Economics and Peace, noted that such a significant yearly decline is exceptionally rare, with fewer than two percent of year-to-year movements showing deteriorations of nine percent or more. He added that comparable cases typically involved civil wars, interstate conflicts, coups, or insurgencies.

However, experts suggest the September unrest alone doesn't fully explain the drastic decline. They argue it exposed long-standing political, economic, and institutional weaknesses. Peacebuilding practitioner Ajay Das stated that the violence reflected years of accumulated institutional frailties rather than a sudden breakdown, describing the scale of loss of life, injuries, and property destruction as among the worst in Nepal's modern history.

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The scale of loss of life, injuries and destruction of property during the protests was among the worst in Nepal’s modern history.